Safety razor blade holder and support therefor



March 17, 1953 J. w. ALLERS SAFETY RAZOR BLADE HOLDER AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed March 15, 1951 Arromvzys.

Patented Mar. 17, 1953 SAFETY RAZOR BLADE HOLDER AND SUPPORT THEREFOR John W. Allers, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 15, 1951, Serial No. 215,751

4 Claims.

My invention relates to a safety razor blade holder and support therefor. More particularly, my invention relates to a device for use in sharpening ordinary double-edged safety razor blades by either stropping or honing, or both as desired.

The problem of providing satisfactory means for resharpening safety razor blades, particularly of the double-edged wafer thin type, has lon been a vexing one. The double-edged safety razor blade is generally formed from ver thin and flexible metal. The cutting edges are formed on these wafer like pieces of metal by grinding narrow beveled faces on each side of the longitudinal edge portions. The cutting edges formed between the two beveled faces are extremely sharp, but are rather easily dulled with use or damaged by nicking, etc. With ordinary use such blades keep a cutting edge of satisfactory sharpness for only a few shaves, and then must be discarded. Therefore, it is of great importance to provide a satisfactory means for resharpening the cutting edges.

In my investigations of the above problem, I have found that with ordinary use the edges of a safety razor blade are not so damaged by nicking, etc. upon first becoming dull that it is necessary to completely reform the cutting edge. In order to bring the edges back to the required sharpness it is generally only necessary to g y redress the existing cutting edges. This can best be done by use of a leather strap, or similar resilient sharpening surface. This stropping procedure can be used to return the cutting edges to satisfactory sharpness for a number of times, but eventually the edges of the blades become so damaged that it is necessary to form completely new cutting edges. In order to do this it is necessary to bring the edges of the bladein contact with a relativel hard abrasive surface such as a Whetstone. After such a honing operation, the edges of the blades can be returned to the desired sharpness simply by stropping as described above. Thus, it can be seen that both honing and stropping are necessary to achieve the maximum life of a safety razor blade.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a holder for use in stropping safety razor blades against leather straps or the like, and also to provide a support for use in combination with the holder when it is desired to hone the blades. More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a holder for use in sharpening safety razor blades which has a clamp- ;ing member adapted to assist in maintainin the blade at the correct sharpening angle when strapping it. Further, it is an object of my invention to design a holder which provides backing for the beveled edges of the blades while they are being sharpened. It is also an object of my invention to incorporate in my holder structure a catch member to facilitate the removal of blades from the holder.

In regard to the combination of the holder and support for use in honing the razor blades, it is an object of my invention to provide a support having a base adapted to rest solidly on a flat surface such as that of a Whetstone and to securely hold the holder and razor blade secured thereto at a correct honing angle. In this connection, it is also an object of my invention to provide a hinged connection between the holder and support so that the holder can be lifted free of a surface upon which the support is resting during the return or non-honing portion of the stroke. More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a' hinged connection for the purpose set out which'allows the holder to be readily detached from the support when it is desired to use it separately for stropping, or to remove or insert a blade. Additional objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

My invention is shown in an illustrative embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my holder and holder support in separated relation; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the holder showin the operation of the pivot catch when inserting or removing a blade; Fig. 3, an inside front elevational view of the holder Support of Fig, 1 showing the hinged notch and the beveled edge leading into the notch: Fig. A, a side elevational view of the connected holder and support in honing position upon a flat surface; Fig. 5, a side elevational view of the holder in stropping position; Fig. 6, a side cross-sectional view take on the longitudinal axis of the holder showing the means of pivotally supporting the catch within the handle; Fig. '7, a transverse crosssectional view taken through the handle and catch showing the clamping arm in closed position beneath a razor blade; and Fig. 8, an enlarged detailed view of a portion of Fig. 4 showing the honing angle and the backing provided for the beveled edge of the blade.

Since the holder of my invention is used for both honing and stropping operations, its con- 3 struction will first be described. In the illustration given, l generally designates a holder which is adapted to receive conventional double-edged razor blades and to facilitate the sharpening of the edges thereof by stroking these edges over the surface of a strap, Whetstone, or the like.

Holder Hi includes a plate member H having hingedly connected to one side thereof a clamping arm l2, and provided on'iits upper surface with a handle 1'3.

Plate i l is preferably of slightly greater length and width than the length and width of a doubleedged razor blade. I have found that it is important to adapt the shape of plate I l to provide protection for the beveled edges of the razor blades during sharpening. In particular, I have found that it is desirable to provide backing for the beveled edges of the blade when these beveled edges are drawn over a sharpening surface.

However, it is also important to shape the lower surface of plate ll so that when plate I I is tilted at a correct sharpening angle only the beveled edge portion of the razor blade secured thereto will be in contact with thesharpenin surface. This position is shown more clearly in Fig. 8.

In the illustration given, the objectives of providing backin for the beveled edges of a razor blade while allowing only these edges tocontact the sharpening surface is accomplished by beveling the outer longitudinal edge portions of the lower blade surface from a line just inside of the cutting edges of the razor blade when it is positioned on the lower surface of plate H. If desired, however, plate H can be slightly kinked so as to turn it upwardly along the same line. The reason for having the beveled or upwardly turned portions of plate ll extend beyond the edges of the blade is to provide a stop which will prevent the blade edges being sharpened from being contacted with the sharpenin surface at too great an angle.

The undersurface of plate H is also preferably equipped with means for positioning the razor blade on the surface. venientlyaccomplished by means of a longitudinal rib it which is adapted to be received in the slot S of blade B. Rib i-can be integrally formed with plate I I and can be made to extend below plate I l' a slightly greater distance than the thickness of bladeB, as shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 6. Clamping arm l2, which. in the illustration given is hinged to one edge of plate H can then be recessed or slotted along a longitudinal line to receive the rojecting portion of rib M. This slot, designated as I5 is shown more clearlyin Fig. 6. In the illustration given, the free end of clamping arm 1-2 is turned in wardly to provide a snap-lock l6 with the end of plate II.

On the upper surface of plate ll there is provided a handle l3, which may be of any suit able construction. In the illustration given,.handle- I3 is formed from two right angular bracket members I3a and 43b, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1, having their lower legs soldered or spot welded to the upper surface of plate H.

In order to facilitate removal of a razor blade, and particularly to overcome the necessity of having to contact the cutting edges of the blade with the fingers, I- prefer to provide a pivotally mounted catch l! which is positioned within a slot in plate I I so as to swing outwardly through the slotof the razor blade.- This can be conveniently accomplished by spacing handle brackets This can be con-- [3a and I 3b apart so as to provide a recess or slot I3 therebetween. Within recess I8 there can be pivotally mounted the catch member I! so that when arm I2 is in clamping position catch I! will be received within slot I8 and the projecting portion will form a part of rib [4 to assist in positioning blade B. Although catch I? can be made to swing outwardly under the influence of gravity when holder; 'tflis turned sidewise, as shown in Fig. 2, it is convenient to extend it beyond handle l3 to provide an operating knob Hi. It also facilitates operation of catch H to have the end of rib l4 adjacent to the hinged connection of arm I2 beveled to facilitate the downward sliding of blade B, as shown more clearly inFigs. 2 and 6.

When holder [0 is used separately for stropping razor blades, it is important that means be provided for maintaining a uniform and correct stropping angle. In the illustration given, this can be conveniently accomplished by forming inclined faces [2a and IZb on the. underside of clamping arm 12, ,as shown more clearly in Figs. 4, 5 and 7. Inclined faces l2a and 12b extend longitudinally on arm, and are used alternately for supporting the holder at the correct sharpening angle while sharpening the adjacent blade edge. Thisv position is shown more clearly in Fig. 5. It is desirable that faces [2a. and I2?) be sufficiently wide to provide. a solid support for the holder, andso that the use of the holder will not greatly change the sharpening angle.

The structure which has just been described is all that is required for stropping razor blades on leather straps and the like- However, as pointed out above suchstropping operation is v effective in resharpening the blades only for a limited number. of times. Then the blade must either be discarded, or new cutting edges formed by honing the bladeon an abrasive surface such as that provided by Whetstone. In this operation, a new cutting edgeis formed and nicks and irregularities in the former edge can thus be eliminated. The step of forming a new edge by honing is a much more difiicult one than that of merely sharpening the blade by strapping. Heretofore, no. satisfactory means has been provided for. honing razor blades which. did not either wear away toomuch of the beveled blade edges, or failed to reform a cutting edge which would stand up under use.

In order to overcome. the above difilculties and to provide a means for. supporting holder H! in honing position, I employ a support 20. In the illustration givenand preferably, support 26 has a relatively wide. flat base memberZl having its undersurface adapted to rest. solidly on a flat sharpening surface, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. Extending upwardly from base member 2! there is provided an attachment member 22, which in the illustration given is. integrally formed with. base memberv 21 by folding a flat sheet of metal stock. The purpose of attachmentmember 22. is toprovide a means for hold ing plate H at an inclination to a sharpening surface. Any suitable means can be employed for attaching holder Ill to support Zil at the desired inclination. However, I prefer to hingedly attach support 20 and holder 10, and more particularly to employ a hinging means which al 24, and attachment member 22 is provided centrally with a slot or recess 25. The inward portion of arms 23 and 2d are made of sufficient width to fit within slot 25. Preferably, the outer ends of arms 23 and 24 are provided with laterally extending fingers 23a and Ma, which are intended to lock arms 23 and 24 within slot 25 while allowing for a raising o-r lowering of holder with respect to the sharpening surface. The purpose of providing arms on both sides of holder If! is to allow for the honing of both edges of the blade by simply reversing holder iii with respect to support 29. This eliminates the necessity of reversing the blade Within holder it, although this can be done if desired. To facilitate the engaging of arms 23 and 24 within recess 25, the adjoining portion of attachment 22 can be beveled at 26. 'It will be understood that if desired more than one arm can be employed on each side of holder it together with an increased number of recesses in the attachment member 22, or other suitable hinging means can be substituted. The hinging means shown, however, is particularly desirable since it provides for the ready detachment of holder ill from support member 20.

Operation In the operation of my device for sharpening razor blades, the handle iii of holder Hi can be grasped with the fingers of one hand and the holder inverted so that the undersurface of plate I l is uppermost. Arm I2 can then be unsn-apped, and swung open to disclose rib is. An ordinary double-edged razor blade such as blade B in the drawings can then be placed upon plate H with rib 14 inserted through the blade slot to position the blade. Arm i2 can then be swung to closed position and snapped to plate i i. In this position, rib I4 will project upwardly into slot 15 of arm 22 and thus securely lock the blade in place.

After insertion of the blade as described above, the holder can then be used to draw the beveled cutting edges of the blade over a leather strap or similar resilient sharpening material such as strap L of Fig. 5. In this operation, the holder is tilted so that one of the beveled faces 12a or lib is parallel with the surface of the strap. In this position, the adjacent beveled edge of the razor blade will also be resting on the strap at a correct stropping angle. Because of the resiliency of the strap and because it is not desired in stropping to produce a completely new edge, it is best to have the stropping angle slightly less than the honing angle. It is preferable in stropping the edge to do so only in one direction, and particularly to strop the beveled edge from the inside towards the cutting edge. For example, the desired direction of stropping with the holder in the position shown in Fig. 5 would be to move the holder to the left, and then to lock the holder to a vertical position while returning the holder for the next sharpening stroke. In this sharpening operation, the outer edge portions of plate H provide backing for the beveled blade edges and also prevent the edges from being turned too sharply against the strap as previously described.

If the blade has become so dulled, nicked, etc. that the edges cannot be brought back to satisfactory sharpness by stropping, it will then be necessary to use support 223 in combination with holder is for honing the blade edges. In this operation, the blade is positioned and clamped in the holder as described above for stropping. The

support 28 can then be seated on the surface of a sharpening stone such as Whetstone W in Fig. 4. One of the lateral arms (23 or 24) of holder in is then inserted in recess 25 of attachment member 22. This position is shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. It will be obvious that blade 20 is supported at an inclination to the sharpening surface of stone W and at a sufficiently great elevation so that arm 42 is not in contact with the stone surf-ace. The angular relation between the blade B and the stone W is shown best in the enlarged detailed view of Fig. 8. As shown in this view, it is preferred that plate ll be supported so that only the beveled edge portion of blade B is in contact with the sharpening surface. Best results are achieved when at least one-third of the beveled edge portion is in contact with the sharpening surface, since the new edge is then formed by a regrinding of the bevel rather than just sharpening at the cutting edge. However, it is generally not desirable to have all of the beveled edge portion in contact with the stone because the innermost portion of the bevel has frequently not been smoothly enough ground at the factory. In this operation, the outer edge portions of plate H function to protect the cutting edges of blade B as described in connection with its use as a holder for stropping. In the honing operation, however, this protective feature is even more important because of the hardness and abrasivenees of the sharpening surface.

The honing operation is preferably carried out by honing the beveled edges of the blade from the cutting edge toward the inner edge of the bevel. This would be accomplished, for example, by moving the holder and support to the left as shown in Fig. 4. It will be noted that the direction of the preferred sharpening stroke for honing is the opposite of that preferred for stropping. After the sharpening stroke, the holder and sup-port can be returned for the next sharpening stroke by raising holder in above the surface of the stone while leaving the support on the stone. In other words, the connection between the support H3 and holder 29 serves as a hinge, which allows the holder and support to be moved back and forth on a stone surface while honing the blade only in one direction. The broad base of support 20 provides solid support for holder i0 and prevents the pitch angle from changing appreciably with use of the support. After one edge of the blade has been satisfactorily honed, the other edge of the blade can then be honed by disengaging the holder from the support and turning it around for insertion of the opposite arm in recess 25.

When the stropping or honing operations have been completed and it is desired to remove the blade, handle i 3 can be grasped by the fingers of the hand with the thumb placed against knob 19. Army 1 2 can then be opened slightly to allow catch IT to swing outwardly through the slot of the blade, as shown in Fig. 2. Then upon tilting the holder with the hinged arm connection uppermost the blade will slide downwardly until stopped by catch [1. In this position the lower edge of the blade can be grasped with the fingers for its removal without danger of contacting the cutting edges. Catch 4! is useful in a similar way for the insertion of the blades.

It will be apparent from the foregoing discussion that holder l 0 has utility separate from support 20 for strop-ping razor blades. If it is desired to limit its use to stropping operations, arms 23 and 24 can be omitted.

While in the foregoing specification I have set forth specific details for purpose of illustrating an embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many of these details can be varied widely without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. The combination of a holder and a support therefor, comprising a base member having a wide, flat undersurface adapted to rest solidly on a flat sharpening surface without additional support, an attachment member extending upwardly therefrom and providing a recess adapted to receive an arm, a plate member equipped on opposite sides with laterally projecting arms supported along one edge by said attachment member so as to assume an inclined position when said base member is placed on a fiat surface by having one of said arms in detachable interlocking engagement with said recess, said arm and recess providing a freely operable hinge connection permitting said plate member to be elevated above the sharpening surface on which said base member is resting whenever desired without disengaging said base member from said sharpening surface, said plate member having a lower surface adapted to receive a double-edged safety razor blade and to position said blade thereon, and means for clamping said razor blade to said lower surface when positioned thereon.

2. The combination of a holder and a support therefor, comprising a base member providing an undersurface dimensioned to rest solidly on a fiat sharpening surface, an attachment member extending upwardly from said base member and providing a recess arranged to receive an arm, a plate member equipped centrally along one edge thereof with a laterally projecting arm, said arm detachably interlocking with said recess and supporting said plate member in an inclined position with the lower unsupported edge of said plate member at approximately the same level as said base member undersurface, said arm and recess providing a freely operable hinge connection arranged to permit said plate member to be elevated above the sharpening surface on which said base member is resting whenever desired without disengaging said base member from said sharpening surface, said plate member having a lower surface arranged to receive a doubleedged safety razor blade and to position said blade thereon with the lower edge of said plate in engagement with said sharpening surface.

3. The combination of a holder and a support therefor, comprising a base member having a wide, flat undersurface arranged to rest solidly on a fiat sharpening surface without additional support, and an attachment member extending upwardly therefrom, a. plate member detachably supported along one edge by said attachment member in an inclined position with respect to said base member and with the lower unsupported edge of said plate member on the same level as the undersurface of said base member, said plate member having a lower surface arranged to supportably receive a double-edged safety razor blade with a cutting edge thereof adjacent the lower unsupported edge of said plateme'mb'er for engaging said sharpening surface, means carried by said plate member for clam-ping said razor blade to said plate member lower surface so that said razor blade follows the movements of said plate member, and hinge means providing the detachable supporting connection between said plate member and said attachment member for permitting said plate member to be lifted above said sharpening surface without lifting .the undersurface of said base member from said sharpening surface, whereby said blade can be honed in one direction on said sharpening surface and lifted above said surface for the return stroke and whereby said holder can be used separately from said support in str-opping said razor blade. I

4. a holder for use in sharpening a doubleedged safety razor blade, the combination comprising a plate member providing a surface on one side thereof for supporting a double-edged razor blade of the type having a central longitudinally-extending slot, said plate member hav-' ing a longitudinally-extending slot therein alignable with the slot in said razor blade, a catch member swingably mounted on the other side of said plate member inalignment with said slot for swinging movements into and out of said slot, said catch member inits. outer position being below said plate-supporting surface and in its inner position having an angular corner portion projecting above said blade supporting surface, and means for directing the swinging movements of said catch member, said means being arranged to permit said catch member to be held in its inner position for the removal of said blade, where-by, when said blade is held in an inclined position with said catch member in its inner position, the blade can be checked by said catch member as it slides downwardly from engagement with said plate member with the lower end of said blade extending beyond the plate member for easy removal.

JOHN W. ALLERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,074,095 Gib-ford et al Sept. 23, 1913 1,312,538 Harrison Aug. 12, 1919 1,356,627 Johanson Oct. 26, 1920 1,451,844 Payson Apr. 17, 1923 1,628,754 Strand May 17, 1927 1,652,469 Dodge Dec, 13, 1927 1,770,538 Warner July 15, 1930 1,953,685 Muros Apr. 3, 1934 2,009,402 Johnston July 30, 1935 2,088,401 Bodecker July 27, 1937 2,392,640 Bryan Jan. 8, 1946 2,518,111 Amendola Aug. 8, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 548,663 Great Britain Oct. 20, 1942 

